For the Beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen

 Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, most widely known for his television program Life is Worth Living,  was born in Illinois in 1895.  Originally  named Peter John, he was nicknamed Fulton, his mother's maiden name.  After his baptism, his mother consecrated him to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and on the day of his First Holy Communion, Blessed Fulton Sheen, renewed this consecration. He was ordained a priest on September 20, 1919 and consecrated a bishop in 1951.  On October 2, 1979 Pope John Paul II embraced Archbishop Sheen, saying to him, "You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church!"  Blessed Fulton Sheen died on October 9, 1979. In 2012 Pope Benedict XVI declared Fulton Sheen venerable.

Blessed Fulton Sheen had a great love for our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and beginning with a resolve on the day of his priestly ordination in 1919 until his death in 1979, Fulton Sheen kept his resolve to make a daily holy hour. He encouraged every person, no matter their state in life to follow this practice as well.  In many of his talks and writings, he spoke of the importance of a daily holy hour. 

Archbishop Sheen said, 

“I do not know how I could live without my daily holy hour. It is the hour that makes my day."

“Because we live in a demonic age, the time has come to take seriously this Holy Hour. It is the only thing our Blessed Lord ever asked us to do, ever asked directly of His disciples: ‘Can you not stay awake one hour with me?’”

“I am asking you, every single day of your life without any exception, to make a continuous hour of adoration in the Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament…”

“Who should make it [a Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration]? Bishops, for an apathetic world, so that during that Holy Hour the Blessed Lord will speak to them, as He spoke to Paul at Corinth. ‘Be courageous, be not silent, speak out, I am with you...  

Priests. Make the Holy Hour. It may be a sacramental sign of our victimhood. Would you have power in the pulpit? Would you be able to console the sick? Would you be able to make converts? Then spend the Hour with our Lord. When you mount the pulpit you will shoot forth sparks, and the people will love you...

Sisters, you wonderful women, who bear a visible sign of your union with Christ, make the Holy Hour—and understand how much the children in schools are yearning for you to come back. Married couples, make the Holy Hour, to make up for an abortion every thirty seconds. Prove that the Lord is the Lord of life and not of death.. 

All you who are engaged in social work, treating humanity in any form, make the Holy Hour. Believe me, when you begin to see the invisible Christ behind that visible sign of Bread, you will soon begin to see in the poor and the naked the invisible Christ whom they represent. That is the vision that makes Mother Teresa one of the leaders of the world in the love of the poor... 

And you young people, young men and young women, do not believe that the joy of life consists in a titillation of the flesh, but see that love is sacrificial; and when you make a Holy Hour, then you will begin to understand that the real rock is Peter, and the gates of hell shall not prevail... Everyone, make the Holy Hour, and you will discover as you leave the divine Presence that if you move among people in the world, they will say of you as the maid said of Peter, ‘You have been with Christ.’ And then at the end of a lifetime spent in adoration of the Lord, and in love of the Blessed Mother, of the Blessed Sacrament, when you come before the Lord do you know what He will say to you? He will say, ‘I heard my Mother speak of you.'"

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On this day of the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, may we remember to thank God for the example of this great priest and bishop.  Let us remember to ask Blessed Fulton Sheen to intercede with God for us that we might imitate his example in living for God.

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Prayer for a Favor

Eternal Father, You alone grant us every blessing in Heaven and on earth, through the redemptive mission of Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ, and by the working of the Holy Spirit. If it be according to Your Will, glorify Your servant, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, by granting the favor I now request through his prayerful intercession (mention your request here) I make this prayer confidently through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen. 

Imprimatur: +Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C., Bishop of Peoria

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In 1973 after the Supreme Court of the United States legalized abortion, Archbishop Sheen composed the following prayer.  It is a most fitting prayer to continue praying in the modern age as well. 

Prayer to Spiritually Adopt an Unborn Child 

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love you very much. I beg of you to spare the life of the unborn child I have spiritually adopted, who is in danger of abortion. Say this prayer every day for nine months to save a baby’s life!

God bless!

+JMJ+